Alternative Matter is not your average metal weblog or webzine. We focus on the experimental, progressive, technical and atmospheric bands and artists within the rock and metal realm. They are the unsung heroes that take our beloved genre to new creative heights and explore uncharted waters. We at Alternative Matter feel we should bring those bands to the limelight by promoting them as much as we can.

Together with our dedicated and highly skilled team of guest writers we bring you fair and high quality reviews as well as very interesting interviews with the best original, innovative and cutting-edge bands and artists out there. In short, Alternative Matter is your alternative to mainstream metal!

EAST OF THE WALL Complete New Album; Tour Plans Begin To Take Shape Technical metal subversives EAST OF THE WALL have completed the recording process for their upcoming third full-length, The Apologist, the highly anticipated opus set for release this October on Translation Loss Records for the CD and digital [...]

Several members from experimental/progressive outfits A Fucking Elephant and El Drugstore founded a new label, called Nefarious Records. In order to celebrate this joyful event both bands decided to record an untitled split EP. Let’s see what these guys have to offer. The first five songs are provided by A [...]

IN FLAMES – NUMBER 1 IN THE OFFICIAL GERMAN MEDIA CONTROL CHARTS (SOURCE: CHARTS.DE) PLUS ADDITIONAL CHARTS ALL OVER EUROPE IN FLAMES are number 1 in the official German Media Control Charts with their new album “Sounds Of A Playground Fading”! (source: charts.de) Antje Lange, Label manager of [...]

According to Wikipedia Ramesses specialise in torrential riffing. That’s my kind of riffing. Unfortunately, on the first track of this new album it is six minutes before we get any riffing at all. Still, those six minutes have been meandering but intriguing and not unpleasant…I just thought they’d be noisier. [...]

If heavy metal is left field music then surely Anaal Nathrakh are on the very left wing of the left field. For the last ten years or so they have consistently challenged perceptions, not to mention ear drums, of what is aurally possible. Their sense of the extreme, their relentless [...]

French art-rockers DEMIANS have just started working on their much anticipated third album. According to frontman Nicolas Chapel, the band will spend this Summer “recording more material than we’ll use on the album”, so expect a lot of new music from DEMIANS in 2012. The band also have plans for [...]

I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve listened to a metal album and thought, “I bet my 84-year-old Russian grandmother would dig this.” I love Russian-influenced heavy metal. This is not just because it references my own culture, but because Russian music has a distinctly melancholy [...]

Susi Brothers Launch Intonation-Network.com, A New Social Networking One-Stop Catered To The Active Musician Are you a musician looking to join a band or collaborate with other musicians, either locally or internationally? Is your band searching for the perfect member? Are you a teacher seeking new students? Or a tech, [...]

There are times when you get the idea that bands or artists are sometimes holding back; that they are, whilst not necessarily cutting corners, pulling their punches. This cannot be said in the case of the absurdly intense, quixotic and brutal madness conjured up on the debut album by chief [...]

LAZARUS A.D. set to headline the No Prisoners No Mercy Tour Wisconsin thrash metallers LAZARUS A.D. are set to hit the road on the band’s first headlining tour with the band taking on local support at each stop. The No Prisoners No Mercy Tour takes the band through NYC, Montreal, [...]